Disclaimer: I received free entry to the Virtual NYRR Turkey Trot 5k race as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews!

---

Did you know Thanksgiving Day is America’s biggest racing day? The second biggest day is the 4th of July. We like racing on the Holidays! Working in the industry I know this. All of our holiday events are definitely our biggest events starting with our Thanksgiving race at 2,500 people. What’s crazy is that our event is that big even with a dozen other Thanksgiving events in the area! That’s 12 events (I counted) less than an hour from each other, and I can only assume they have about as many as us!

I have been working on Thanksgiving morning for four or five years now. (I know it’s for sure been at least four years, because I’ve always worked Thanksgiving since I’ve been with Ben, but it could have been one more year before that). For the past years, I have been assistant race director and pretty much done anything possible on the holiday morning: I’ve helped in the registration tent, coordinated the course volunteers, parking, pie cutting (yep! We do pumpkin pie on race day!), and more. This year, our head race director for this event stepped down and I’ve been “promoted” to Race Director of our biggest event of the year.

Oh the pressure.

Needless to say, I DON’T get to run on Thanksgiving. Well, I guess I could in the afternoon/evening, but no. Trying to do anything active in the afternoon of a race day as race director is challenging!

Growing up, my Thanksgiving morning tradition was eating warm blueberry muffins while watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. When I first really got into the running scene, I did a few Turkey Trots for a few years. I remember doing one in Arkansas while visiting my Grandparents with my Dads and I’ve done a few different ones here in the Denver area. When I didn’t register for an official race, sometimes I would go for my own run around the neighborhood. While the calories burned running a 5k no where match what I consume on the holiday, it did feel good to get out before sitting down and eating the rest of the day.

While I do miss those mornings, I love being involved with producing a Turkey Trot; I get to help others have a wonderful family tradition. It’s whirlwind, stressful, busy morning, but it’s fun and rewarding. Since I don’t get to run with those other 2,500 runners, I was super excited to get to participate in the NYRR Virtual Turkey Trot 5k with other BibRave Pros!

I don’t know when I’ll run, maybe Friday or Saturday, but I’m glad I get to join the community in my own way! I get to pick my course and my race time and do my own Turkey Trot 5k.

---

The NYRR Virtual  Turkey Trot is produced by the NYRR Running Club. Yep, the same people that produce the New Your City Marathon. They have a whole virtual racing segment for people to join their community from around the world!

The virtual races are powered by Strava. Once I decide to run my race, I’ll track my race in Strava and will be amongst a ton of people across the country (actually WORLD) also doing the NYRR Virtual Turkey Trot!

They also combine this virtual racing platform to do good within the community:

With NYRR’s Virtual Racing platform you also have the opportunity to give back to the running community—no matter where you live. Proceeds support NYRR mission’s to help and inspire people through running and benefit NYRR’s free youth and community programs, including Rising New York Road Runners, NYRR Striders, and more.

And the best part is, it’s FREE. That’s right. You can sign up for any of the virtual races and be a part of the community for FREE. (All about swag? Sure, you can get a shirt or medal when with you virtual entry as well!)

---

More info on the NYRR Virtual Turkey Trot 5k:

Race Page
Virtual Racing Home Page

---

Check out the race I help produce: BroomfieldTurkeyDay.com